Something in Common
by Jimmy the Gothic Egg
Summary: Zuko and Jet have more in common than they think. Sorry I couldn't add the mud.


Who fights fire with fire? Wouldn't that make more fire? Firefighters don't use fire to put it out.

I don't know who thought that up.

**There aren't any explicit spoilers here.** But I'm pretty sure, if you haven't seen _Secret of the Fire Nation_, you at least know Jet came back.

And if you didn't… Well, now you do.

_Something in Common_

The night was clear and pretty, stars twinkling down from the milky sky with a moon that was not quite full, but almost there. If you looked closely, you might see a face of a woman, but there was only one person who looked that closely, and he's not in this story right now.

Two other men are.

Jet liked to choose his days for battle on something special. A random day meant so much less to him than one that had significance. But the man he was going to kill now was more of a rat, and he didn't set aside special days for rats.

Still, it wasn't a bad night to clean away some scum.

Zuko stood across from him, two swords clenched firmly in his fists. The boy was stubborn, refusing to fire-bend for anything. Jet couldn't help but notice the two sickles he carried struck another similarity, one he was quite ready to admit. He didn't like the idea of having things in common with a Fire Nation rat, but Fate kept handing it to them.

Jet struck first, swinging around his weapon to hook his opponent's arm then maybe draw a little blood across the face. But Zuko was not ready to be taken so easily, and he took the hilt of his sword to crack against Jet's chin as he dodged the scratch. Jet stumbled back before rounding on him again, catching the fabric of his shirt and swinging him into a wall. He recovered quickly, thrusting a sword out to stop Jet's weapons from coming down on him. He brought the other sword over his head and—

"_STOP!"_

Both boys froze. From the street a shadow fell, one that looked vaguely familiar to both. It ran towards them, and Jet's eyes grew wide while Zuko's grew into slits as they recognized the shape.

"Katara?" Jet called. They still hadn't moved from their position, and his leg was getting tire as it hung in the air.

The shadow looked surprised, then a little bit more than a little bit angry. "Jet?" Katara's voice was cold, and Zuko felt very glad he wasn't in the middle of this.

Then her eyes focused on him, and he was ready to let Jet go and find his uncle. He currently didn't care too much about the Avatar, and the girl's expression showed he would be better off if he just went his own way, maybe settled down in some random town, or maybe living in the woods like a hermit. Hermits were fun. They were eccentric.

"Why exactly are you doing with Zuko?" she said slowly, her eyes scanning the scene. It was probably obvious, but she'd learned many things were not as they seemed.

Jet was confused at the name. He thought this was "Li" not "Zuko." He glanced at the face of his opponent, who did not so much as bat an eye, just kept staring at Katara. Did these two… know each other?

He might've called it "righteous fury," but his next few words were most likely chosen from "jealousy." "He's Fire Nation, Katara," he said with that proud little smirk that she absolutely loved and loathed at the same time. (Maybe she had it in for bad boys. She cursed her girlish mind.) "I'm going to kill him."

Zuko scoffed unintentionally. Jet glared, but Katara hid a scoff of her own.

"It looks like he's about to kill you."

True. The sword was still poised over his head. Zuko did not move it, though Jet assumed he wouldn't mind him stepping out of the way. He did so, and Zuko put his weapon at his side, leaning against the wall. He really wasn't about to leave, now that Katara seemed to have it out for this other guy. He'd like to watch someone _else_ get beat by her. It was really tiring for him.

"What're you doing here, Jet?" Katara snapped, crossing her arms and leaning forward. Zuko took this as a sign he was allowed to stay, or that she wasn't quite to him yet. He waited.

"Relax," he said. "Smellerbee and Longshot are with me. We're starting over here."

"'Starting over?'" Her gaze turned suspicious. "With what?"

"I know you're still angry about the whole 'flooding the Earth Kingdom village' thing but—"

Zuko raised an eyebrow. Katara exploded.

"Of course I'm still angry! You stupid bastard! You don't kill _innocent_ people! Who the hell is that gonna help! How the hell'd you get here anyway!"

Jet shrugged. "Ferry."

She muttered something about "the evil passport lady" and rounded on Zuko. "And you?"

"Same," he muttered.

Katara probably should've realized right then she might need to run off and warn the gang, but was too angry to care.

Jet still had a question irking at the back of his mind, and was brave enough (or stupid enough) to ask it. "You two know each other?"

(It was probably stupid.)

Katara marched up to him, grabbed the front of his shirt, and punched him. He felt to the ground, holding his hands over his nose and cursing loudly. She wheeled around to Zuko, who was too surprised to even try anything, and did the same to him. She stared at them, feeling satisfied, and walked away, leaving the two boys withering on the ground.

They had something else in common, Jet realized, and the broken noses to prove it.

**Notes:**

I don't know what I was doing with it.

Inspired by **phantisaeii** on LJ. I just really wanted Katara to punch someone out. I got my wish.


End file.
